#2023-08

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A collection of detailed shots from the Fujikawa hanabi in 2023. No wonder I wasn't too frustrated at missing firework displays this year...

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Fujikawa hanabi

Missing the bulk of the Fukui Phoenix Festival's firework display during my most recent trip to Japan was a shame, but not a huge regret. That's because, two years earlier, I had lucked into a hanabi at Fujikawa, Shizuoka-ken. And I mean luck. It was supposed to be a short train journey out in the evening from Mishima to this place which seemed to have an estuary and maybe a decent view of Mount Fuji at sunset. Instead, there were security guards at the station directing people, which was unusual for a little station... until I noticed the posters - hanabi tonight!

It was a treat! Not one of the most famous in the country, just a local fete with, I presume, some music in the afternoon (taikô were being packed up) and some food stands - which were impossible to get to, the lines were so long! After half an hour of waiting, I had to settle for my emergency biscuits and sit down for the fireworks.

Having chickened out from Nagoya Port's hanabi because it was just so packed with people I got concerned about how much time it would take to get back to the guesthouse, stumbling on this festival a few weeks later made it all the more unforgettable. I felt so fortunate - and a few days later, I got a clear view of Mount Fuji. It was like my luck couldn't end.

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Mishima Skywalk and the zip line with a view of Mount Fuji

I jokingly suggested a zip line over the Rhine in the tags of a previous post, but here's one that does exist: two zip lines, 300 and 260 metres in length, over a valley in the slopes on Mount Hakone.

It's one of the many fun activities on offer at Mishima Skywalk, along with segway tours, tree adventures... But first, one must cross the 400-metre suspension bridge, which is already not for the faintest of hearts...

The kicker is the view of Mount Fuji. On a good day, of course, the usual terms and conditions apply, and I had been unlucky previously when it came to seeing it. This seemed a better day than most, but not quite there...

Until I embarked on the return zip line. I turned around on the way up and saw Fuji-san as clear as can be. I didn't take my camera on the zip lines for fairly obvious safety reasons (and I should mention that my friend Megumi who kindly drove me to the Skywalk that day took the top picture), so what could I do but enjoy the breathtaking sight while gliding back to the start slope!

The clouds allowed this clear enough shot after crossing the bridge back to the entrance. Again: this view from a zip line. Not just a highlight of the trip, probably a lifetime highlight!

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Some amusing art in Matsumoto

In my previous post, I mentioned I was taking the train from Nagano to Tokyo, but my destination for the day was actually Matsumoto. There's quite a lot to see there, mainly the castle, but I'll get to that another time. For now, I'd just like to share some lighter, more amusing details.

This awesome statue depicts two samurai frogs riding on toadback - the poor thing seems to be overwhelmed! That would be because the street by this river has adopted the frog as a mascot. According to local history, the river used to have loads of frogs, making it a rather noisy place (I bet, if my memories of Futami, Mie, are anything to go by!). But after a typhoon caused a flood, the frogs left for higher ground and didn't go back to the river, so loads of frog statues were erected instead.

On the bridge near the entrance to this street and near the castle, other creatures could be found: "Y-cats", created by Yamazaki Takashi. I think this was a temporary exhibit.

Oh alright, I'll tease the castle...

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Strasbourg's tramway's 30th anniversary!

On this day in 1994, Strasbourg inaugurated - or rather, resurrected - its tramway network. Like many cities in France, Strasbourg had a streetcar system until the late 1950s, when it was decided that cars would take over. 30 years of worsening congestion and pollution later, the town chose a tramway, which had made a successful return in the mid 1980s in Nantes and Grenoble, over an automatic metro to revitalise its transit service.

Unlike Nantes and Grenoble, Strasbourg looked to foreign streetcar manufacturers Socimi and ABB, who designed a fully low-floor tram with generous windows. The Eurotram was at first a 33-metre vehicle (original form seen above), which quickly proved insufficient. A lengthened version, with an extra motor module and carriage, appeared in the following years.

Personally, I quite like this tram for the massive windows, the very mechanical sounds as it runs, and the fact that the warning bell is a real bell (later models have an electronic bell which... just sounds worse). A downside I have noticed, though not for me specifically, is that it has a low ceiling.

After losing out in the 90s, national constructor Alstom won the next round of contracts for Strasbourg's trams in the 2000s. The Citadis model, fully low-floor and taller than the Eurotrams, entered service in 2005. More Citadis trams arrived in 2016, with a new design that I really like, and with special adaptations to allow it to run in Germany, as the network crossed the border to Kehl in 2017, a first for a French tram operator.

Today, the network consists of 6 lines, crisscrossing the city centre and heading out into the suburbs. A 7th line is in the planning stages, due to head North towards Bischheim and Schiltigheim. Despite refurbishment, the Eurotrams won't be around forever, and new trams are on order - more from Alstom.

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Hakone Ropeway

The gondola lift up the Schauinsland is very good, but my favourite so far is definitely the Hakone Ropeway. After the train into Hakone, another train to Gôra, and a funicular, the last leg up the mountain is covered by this funitel, on which cars are suspended by two cables rather than one.

The Ropeway carries passengers up to Ôwakudani through the forest... at least as far as that ridge.

Mount Hakone is an active volcano and "Ôwakudani", 大涌谷, literally means "great boiling valley", featuring bright yellow sulphur deposits and gas vents. Going from lush green slopes to the mineral hellscape of the crater in an instant is a breathtaking contrast, and one of my all-time favourite moments from my travels.

The Ropeway can obviously only run when the volcano isn't too active. When I first rode it in 2016, staff handed out damp tissues for passengers to cover their nose and mouth and protect themselves against the gases. After traversing the crater, the Ropeway continues down the other side of the mountain to the North end of Lake Ashi, where one would continue a tour by boarding one of the "pirate ships" that cruise on the lake.

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Koishikawa Kôrakuen in the summer

This is my favourite park in the city and I've now seen it in three of four seasons, including exactly one year ago. As August in Tokyo goes, it was very muggy and overcast, and as soon as I touched the ticket, it started raining. As I hadn't entered, the person at the ticket office offered a refund, but this was my last day in Japan so if it was going to be a wet visit, so be it.

I did shelter for a bit as the rain was rather heavy, and it proved to be a shower, so it was mostly dry during the walk through the park. Well, I say "dry", but the air was horrifically humid, I was getting just as wet when it was raining than when it wasn't! And when the Sun peeked out, wow did it burn!

Through all of this, this one heron seemed to be chilling in the middle of the main pond. Heron? Hero, more like!

After the tour, I went to the Kantoku-tei tea house for some respite, a katsu meal, some tea... and a change of shirt!

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Hikawa Maru at sunset

Moored permanently at Yokohama as part of a park and seafront promenade, is the ocean liner Hikawa Maru, built in 1928-1930. After life as a passenger ship and a hospital ship during World War II, it survives in impeccable condition - the paint is vibrant and there's hardly any rust to notice.

It is a museum ship and a protected monument, as evidenced by the banners:

(happy captain face) 船内を見学できます: you can take a tour inside the ship

重要文化財 日本郵船 「氷川丸」: Important Cultural Property, Nippon Yûsen ship Hikawa Maru

Obviously, I was too late to be able to visit the ship. I had arrived at Shinagawa late afternoon and was hopping over to Yokohama for a sunset walk-around and dinner.

I'm bringing it up because Mike Brady featured the Hikawa Maru on a recent episode of Oceanliner Designs about ships that avoided destruction and that still survive.